Transcranial Doppler sonography for detecting stenosis or occlusion of intracranial arteries in people with acute ischaemic stroke.

Background: An occlusion or stenosis of intracranial large arteries can be detected in the acute phase of ischaemic stroke in about 42% of patients. The approved therapies for acute ischaemic stroke are thrombolysis with intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA), and mechanical thrombectomy; both aim to recanalise an occluded intracranial artery. The reference standard for the diagnosis of intracranial stenosis and occlusion is intra-arterial angiography (IA) and, recently, computed tomography angiography (CTA) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), or contrast-enhanced MRA.

Prevalence of intracranial large artery stenosis and occlusion in patients with acute ischaemic stroke or TIA.

Intracranial large artery stenosis and occlusion disease has been considered to be the cause of 8–10 % of ischaemic strokes in North America, and 30–50 % of strokes and more than 50 % of transient ischaemic attacks in Chinese population. So far we do not know the real prevalence of intracranial disease (ID) and the distribution of its risk factors in European population. We aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of ID in a European stroke population with computed tomography angiography (CTA).

Fibroblast growth factor-2 levels are elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid of multiple sclerosis patients.

In recent years a role has been recognized for fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2 in the pathogenesis of demyelination and the failure of remyelination in experimental models of multiple sclerosis (MS). FGF-2 levels were determined using a sensitive immunoassay in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 20 patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), 40 patients with relapsing-remitting (R-R) MS, and 30 patients with secondary progressive (SP) MS, correlated with MRI measures. Control CSF samples were obtained from 20 subjects who underwent lumbar puncture for diagnostic purposes and for whom all instrumental and laboratory analyses excluded systemic and nervous system diseases.

Expression of ionotropic glutamate receptor GLUR3 and effects of glutamate on MBP- and MOG-specific lymphocyte activation and chemotactic migration in multiple sclerosis patients.

The present study was aimed at confirming the presence of GluR3 on T lymphocytes and to assess the effect of glutamate on proliferative responses to myelin basic protein (MBP) and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) and chemotactic migration to CXCL12/stromal cell-derived factor-1, RANTES, and MIP-1alpha in 15 control subjects and 20 relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients (10 in a stable clinical phase and 10 during relapse). T lymphocytes of control subjects and MS patients express both mRNA and protein of GluR3 receptors, as shown by RT-PCR and immunoblot analyses. An up-regulation was evident during relapse and in patients with neuroradiological evidence of disease activity.

Cost assessment of headache in childhood and adolescence: preliminary data.

Headache, and in particular migraine, is a common disturbance in childhood and adolescence. The disabling nature of headache, evident in the adult, together with its effects on family life and reduction in performance of scholastic activity, make it a disease with an elevated social economic impact. We present preliminary results of a prospective study conducted over 6 months on a population of headache sufferers in childhood and adolescence who referred to our Juvenile Neuropsychiatry Centre of the Hospital of Perugia.